The present invention relates to a method for automatically linking program execution status information to display program execution status information by using a multi-window display sectioned into a plurality of areas for use in the development of a software program. More particularly, the invention relates to a method for linking, text data, image information which is continuously obtained by recording at least one of an output screen image generated by the execution of the program, a moving image of a machine controlled by the program and an operation image of an operator in the course of execution of the program, and history information which is generated in the course of execution of the program, during the execution of the program.
In a related, art system, in order to improve efficiency of the maintenance of a software program, any portion of a source text portion of the program and a document portion of a specification corresponding to the source text portion is manually linked, and the document portion of the specification corresponding to the source text portion is parallelly displayed on an operator's instruction while the operator watches the program source text on a display screen.
The above related art technique is disclosed in "Hypertext and Its Application to Programming Environment" INFORMATION PROCESSING, Vol. 30, No. 4 (1989, 4) pages 406-413.
In the above related art, the linking of the program source text portion and the document portion of the specification is accomplished manually. Accordingly, the linking work is troublesome and lacks practicability.
In the related art, when a modified area of the program is to be detected, when the program is to be maintained or when an execution status of the program is to be checked, the program is actually run and any error is detected by manual collation with a specification, information is logged to collate it with the specification, or the execution of the program is stopped at a desired point to check the status at the stopped point.
In the related art, in order to determine a function and a feature of an existing program, there is no other way than imaging them in the human brain by viewing a specification. As a result, only a vague image can be determined. Accordingly, when the program is to be reutilized to support the development of another program, the support is not sufficient because the function and feature of the existing program have not been fully determined. In the related art, in order to communicate test information and claims of a user to a program developer who is not on site, a memorandum which describes the situation or oral communication is used. This, however cannot fully communicate the situation to the developer. In the related art, when an execution status of a program is to be examined in detail at a desired time point, the examination takes a long time and the status cannot be fully appreciated if the synchronization between a recorded display screen and the program is not perfect.